Attachment plug



May 21, 1 940- A. c. GRoHsGAL 2,201,578

ATTACHMENT PLUG Filed Dec. 24, 1937 YWWMM? if Y M ATTORNEYS Patented May 214, I

UNITED STATES 2.201.573 ATTACHMENT PLUG Alexis o. croma, New York, N. Y., assigner to Y Marks"Productsy Co., Inc., Brooklyn N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application December 24, 1937, Serial No. 181,627

. 3 Claims.

I held together by cooperating integral formations.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide an attachment plug made up of a resilient hous- 'ing and an insert of insulating material having contact prongs secured thereto, the insert being D held in the housing by cooperating formations on the two parts A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing character in which the rtact prongs are permanently and frictioinallyv l secured to the insert.

A still further object of the invention is tov provide an attachment plug oi the type described in'which the housing of resilient material is provided with recesses in the walls thereof for the Il reception of retaining members r 1d of terminal screws vfastening ponductors to theI contact prongs. y

In carrying out the foregoing-and 'otherobjects oi the` invention the'plug thereof ish-made .l up of a housing of resilient material, such as rubber, which housing is shaped to provide a chamber for the reception of an insert and which has a hollow neck. portion in communication with the. chamber for the passage of conductors there- D into. Another element' of the plug comprises an insert formed of some suitable insulating material shaped to fit within the chamber of the housing and shaped to have contact prongs permanenty secured thereto in a frictional man ner.

The contact prongs have threaded orices formed therein for the reception of terminal screws and the insert has recesses therein to receivethe shanks of these screws. In addition, the insert has oppositely disposed lug members adapted tointrude into recesses formed in opposite walls of the housing whereby the insert can be retained within the chamber of this housing.

In one iorm of the invention. the neck' portion s through which the conductors pass is arranged as a longitudinal continuation of the 'insertchambercf the housing. -In another form of the invention, the neck portion isarranged to extend at right angles-to this chamber so that the conductors enterthe chamber at such angle.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will 'become apparent by references to the following detailed description of the accompanying drawing illustratingV the same,

5 wherein:

(cl. 17a-361) "of a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on the 5 line 3-3 of Fig l;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the contact prongs used in this assembly;

Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of the insert used therein; 10

Fig. 6 is an end-view of the device shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a bottom view thereof;

Fig. 8 is a side view of the same member; and

Fig. 9 is a side view partially in section oi a- 15 modied form of the invention.

Referring now to' the drawing and particularly to Figs. 41 to 8 inclusive,' I0 indicates generally an open-ended housing made up of some suitable exible resilient material such as rubber. This housing is so shaped as to .provide a chamber II formed by opposite pairs ofwalls I2 and- Il and a neck portion I5 of reduced diameter hollowe'd out and in communication with the chamber II. The opposite walls I4 are provided with recesses I6 which may be shaped as shown or which may constitute round openings extending completely through the wall. The opposite walls I2 have integral beads I1, the purpose of which will be explained later.

The insert, indicated generally at 20, comprises a plug of insulating material, which material maybe a phenol condensation product, fibre or any other desired material having the proper qualities. Each end wall of the insert 5 20 is provided with a shallow longitudinal channel 2l dened in part, by lugs 22. The bottom Hat surface of each channel 2|` has a recess 24 formed therein' of circular cross-section and a second recess therein 9i rectangular cross- 40 section. As will be seen in Fig. v1, these opposite recesses 24 and '25 in the two end ^walls are sep-v` arated bya thin strip of material26.' The opposite side walls of the insert 20 areV provided, with integral lugs 21 preferably shaped substan- 45 tially as shown. 'I'he top of insert 20 is provided with a taperedl portion 28 of the'shape shown in the drawingy which portion 28 is adapted to serve as a conductor spreader or separator.

The terminal prongs used/in this device are preferably substantially of the shape shown` in Fig.*4, wherein it will be seen thatthe terminal prong is made from a nat strip of material 30 preferably brass or some other good conductor.

material, one end of which is bent substantially j at right angles as shown at 3| and which has the edges thereof provided with teeth 32. A threaded orifice 34 is provided in the strip 30 a slight distance below the angular end part 3|. The other end of the strip 30 is bent back upon itself as shown at 35 into a substantially V-shape. The opposite edges of strip 30-are provided with recesses 30 to receive lugs 22.

The terminal prongs `are secured to insert 20 by forcing the angular part 3| of a prong into the recess 25 of the insert. These parts are so properly dimensioned that some pressure is required to force the partl into the recess with the result that the teeth 32 become more or less wedged into the material of the insert so that withdrawal thereof is rendered exceedingly diflicult. When the terminal prongs are so secured to the insert, it will be'found that the parts 3i] lie in channels EI and that the threaded orice titi is in register with the opening 2li in the insert, so that terminal screw 3E can pass through the aperture 3d into the aperture 24.

When the terminal prongs have been secured.

to the insert, the insert can be assembled with the housing I0 in conjunction with two conductors 31. These conductors in a cable 38 are passed through the neck I5 of the housing and beyond the open end of chamber I I thereof. The conductors 31 can then be secured to the two terminal screws 36, after which the insert can be introduced into the chamber II. Inasmuch as the housing I0 is made of resilient material, the walls of the housing yield sufficiently to permit this insert to be forced thereinto. When the insert has been properly introduced into the chamber, the integral lugs 21 of the insert intrude into the openings I6 in the walls I4 of the housing. When these walls assume their normal shape under their own resiliency, engagement of the lugs 21 in the openings I 6 serves'to prevent adventltious withdrawal of the insert from the housing. At the same time the beads I1 on the lower end of walls I2 serve to partially enclose the terminal screws 38.

Ii it is desired to withdraw the insert from the housing, such operation can be accomplished by spreading the walls M apart to disengage the same from the lugs 21. The insert can thenvbe pulled from the housing. While the insert is in place within the housing, the tapered part 28 serves as a separator for the conductors 31 in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 9 `a mociication of the invention has been shown. In this figure the housing indicated generally at Iii' has a chamber therein for the reception of an insert 20', but this housing, instead of being provided with a neck similar to that shown in Fig. 1 is provided with a neck I5 extending at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the housing IB' and being hollowed out to communicate with the insert chamber of the housing. The insert 20' is similar in all respects to insert 2i) with the exception that the tapered top portion 28 is not provided. The remainder of the construction utilized in this embodiment of the invention is similar in all details to that previously described. It should be noted that contact prongs 3B have been shown in this form as constituting blade-like members but it is to be understood that contact prongs similar to those previously described can be used in this modification and also prongs similar to those shown at 30' can be used in the Fig. 1 embodiment.

From the foregoing it will-be seen that the present invention provides a plug construction of such character that the component parts thereof are held together by cooperating integral formations; thereby reducing the cost of manufacture and the cost and labor involved in assembling the parts together with electric conductors. It is to be understood that modifications beyond those shown in the illustrated embodiments can be made; in view of which any limitations posed upon this invention are to be only those set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A device of the character described comprising a housing of resilient material having an open-ended chamber therein, an insert member of hard insulating material having longitudinal channels in the end walls thereof and terminal prongs frictionally secured thereto with parts of the prongs lying in said channels, said housing having recess^s in opposite walls thereof, and integral lugs on said insert for introduction into said recesses to.resiliently retain said insert in said housing, said lugs having tapered upper edge portions to facilitate introduction of said insert member into said housing and having depending hook members at the outer ends of the lugs to resist removal of the insert member from the housing.

2. A device of the character described cornprising a housing of resilient material having an open-ended chamber' therein. said chamber being provided with side walls which are substantially iiat over the major portions thereof. an insert member of hard insulating material having terminal prongs secured thereto. said insert member having side walls which are substantially iiat over the major portions thereof, the engagement of side walls of said insert member with side walls of said chamber preventing relative rotation of the housing and the insert member, said housing having recesses in said side walls, and integral lugs on said insert member for introduction into said recesses to retain said insert member in said housing, said lugs being shaped to facilitate introduction of said insert member into said housing and to resist removal of the insert member from the housing.

3. A device of the character described comprising a housing of resilient material, said housing having an open-ended chamber therein, said chamber having end walls and oppositely disposed substantially parallel side walls longer than the end walls, an insert member of hard insulating material having contact prongs secured thereto, said insert member having oppositely disposed substantially parallel side walls, said housing having recesses in said substantially parallel side walls, and integral lugs on the substantially parallel side walls of said insert member, said lugs being brought into engagement with said recesses automatically upon insertion of the insert member into the housing, said lugs being shaped to facilitate introduction of the insert member into the housing and to resist removal of the insert member from the housing.

ALEXIS C. GROHSGAL. 

